Abundant Life
…at the bird feeder that is, and in the patio. We moved the bird feeder from the patio to the outside, in front of one of the windows next to the fireplace. It took a few days, but then a female cardinal showed up, and then another one. And now, they stop by regularly. We have yellow finches, and a few other little birds I don’t know the names of. The seeds are spicy, something that the birds do not mind, but that the squirrels hate. Today, we had an example of that. A squirrel, jumping on the feeder out of nowhere, took a few bites and then desperately moved in a circle, hanging from his front paws and falling to the ground. Ha! It worked! And it was funny to watch.
In the patio, we have three visiting mourning doves, obviously ground birds. So I sprinkled a variety of seeds in the border and on the cement in the area that we can observe from our chairs. They fly in and out, one went out by crawling underneath the garden gate. He just made it. I really have to do some gardening, pruning and fertilizing, sine the weather is getting beautiful, but I am still too busy inside. I did plant ginger, and perhaps I will get a few little tomato plants, in memory of Sallie, who used to give me three every year.
Why my days are shorter than yours
I figured it out: I spend nine or more hours of the 24 asleep! I could create longer days to get more done by setting the alarm an hour earlier, or to skip my afternoon nap. But I love to sleep! I will just wait patiently until I need less of it 🙂
Our Neighborhood
What a nice neighborhood it is! An unknown neighbor took care of large recycling items here and in the other street that did not fit in the large trash containers that come with every home. Another neighbor got a ten week old Goldendoodle and our two dogs are having nose to nose tail waving meetings, until the puppy starts jumping over Lani, back and forth, which is just too much for her, and she walks on.
Another nice neighbor came over to dig a hole in our backyard outside the fence, and planted a clump of potted grass I had brought from our cottage. And the only thing I asked him was if he had a shovel I could borrow. He came right over, with a shovel and extra soil.
An unknown plant in our border, with dark green leaves and burgundy stems, grew up fast; the stems fell over in the hot sun but straightened up again later in the shade. And now, the cutest lavender bell shaped flowers opened up. Nobody knows what the name is, and I would love it if any of you could tell me, or could look up the name somewhere. I can’t find it on Google. Anybody? Please let me know!
Last Saturday and Sunday we had heavy rain storms, thunder and lightning. During a break in the clouds I ventured out with Lani, without an umbrella. When I was in the other street, and it started raining again, we walked faster and faster, but then the rain suddenly came pelting down. Lani was terrified! We ran across the street to the clubhouse, up the ramp and to the door of the ladies’ restroom. It is an outside restroom, next to the pool area, and has the same door code as all the other doors of the clubhouse. I remembered it! We quickly dove inside and spent a good ten minutes there while waiting until it rained less. We made it home, drenched to the bone, but it was more scary for Lani than for me.
Not a day goes by without us saying to each other how happy we are that we made this jump, out of Waltonwood and into Orchard Grove!
And that’s a wrap!
Be well! Until next time,
Ronny
Aha! More adventures. What fun!
What was your inspiration for making the move to Orchard Grove?
Yes! Our son wanted us to be closer to him in Apex, so he found us the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood and he is five minutes away now. At our beck and call 🙂
Monthly coffee meetings are fun to meet neighbors, the pool is open but only 73 degrees. So I’ll wait a while, because the ocean at Kona Village was 84! I am spoiled.